Automated tools may be provided for generating an integrated circuit layout. A standard cell library defines different types of standard cells which can be selected for inclusion in the integrated circuit layout. The system designer can provide the automated design system with a functional definition of the circuit layout to be generated, and the automated design system can then generate an integrated circuit layout by selecting standard cells from the library which satisfy the required functional definition.
It is known to provide some standard cells which have boundary regions which have limited compatibility with boundary regions of adjacent cells. Some cells may have boundary regions which are incompatible with each other, so that such cells cannot be placed next to each other in the integrated circuit layout. The automated design system may therefore consider compatibility of adjacent boundary regions when determining a cell placement for the integrated circuit. For example, the system may select the cells so that only cells with compatible boundary regions are placed next to each other. However, this limits flexibility in cell placement and routing of connection to the cells, which can reduce the efficiency of the circuit layout. Also, it is possible to place filler regions between incompatible boundary regions of adjacent cells so that these cells may still be placed next to each other. However, the filler regions increase the area of the integrated circuit layout, which is undesirable. The present technique seeks to address these problems.